Kids and Teachers are on Different Social Media Wavelengths

With technology improving in our schools (albeit at a slow pace for some districts), comes social media as an inherent component of our ever-evolving world. With social media usage in computer labs and classroom, there have been issues involving privacy, bullying and improper teacher-student conduct.

Some schools have begun their own social media monitoring program, which tracks student tweets, blog posts etc. This resulted in 14 expulsions from a Huntsville, Alabama school board after the NSA found multiple threats involving a teacher.

Another difficult aspect of social media and the classroom is the concept of “friending”. Most teachers are not allowed to accept friend requests from students until they have graduated and moved on from the school. This is because teachers can become victims of false harassment allegations which occur online.

The truth is that students are becoming tech-savvy much faster than school boards and sometimes even teachers are. This means schools need to devise ways to handle inappropriate social media conduct and keep on top of the newest trends in social media.